Edinburgh Castle Considered For '17 Tour De France Start

Geography "appears to be the greatest challenge" to a bid to bring the Tour de France's Grand Depart to Edinburgh, Scotland, according to the London TELEGRAPH. A proposal to take the Tour to the Scottish capital and "down the spine" of the U.K. gained momentum this weekend when officials traveled to Liege, Belgium for the Grand Depart. Representatives from British Cycling, U.K. Sport and EventScotland visited Belgium for talks with Tour organizer Amaury Sports Organisation, "proposing that Edinburgh would host the Grand Depart in '17." EventScotland Int'l Events Dir Stuart Turner said, "We've been talking to the ASO for a good couple of years and our sales pitch hinges around Edinburgh being probably the most fantastic place that they could ever do a Grand Depart. But perhaps in an ideal world it is a little bit further away from France than they would like." Edinburgh Castle would host the presentation of the teams on the esplanade where the Military Tattoo is held annually. The Old Town, including the Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood Park, would host the opening prologue (TELEGRAPH, 7/2).